Teaching my own classes

You'd have to travel 1-1.5 hours to find a good positive class in my area. Trainers just do not believe in positive reinforcement around here. This is why I've decided that hey.. even *I* am better than nothing. I do wish all of this could have happened a better time when I truly was more educated and experienced, but I guess I'll just jump in and go along for the ride. In the fall I'll be in Ft Wayne apprenticing under a trainer and sometime in the future I'd like to enroll in the Animal Behavior College.
 

The good classes I've paid for when I traveled almost all the way to Toledo were 50 for 4 weeks. The trainers closest by charge 50 or 60 for 8 weeks. So either way, I will be the cheapest in the area. And also that it is through the humane society, it will get alot of attention and advertising just by the amount of people that are coming through to look at dogs and adopt.   

Our local humane society offers training classes free to those who adopt their dog through them.  They find that it decreases the chances of the dog being returned to them if the new owners get training advice.

Everywhere else around here, though, is $95-$99 for 6/7 week classes.  Your rate of $30 for six weeks is almost ridiculously low.  I think you can and should charge more.  If I saw someone advertising at that rate I'd pass it by -- my mindset being that it was someone who didn't know what they were doing.

$30 is a steal.  Our is $100 for 8 weeks, but then $80 once you are a returning customer.  The Humane Society is $75 for 6 weeks. 

KarissaKS

Our local humane society offers training classes free to those who adopt their dog through them.  They find that it decreases the chances of the dog being returned to them if the new owners get training advice.

Everywhere else around here, though, is $95-$99 for 6/7 week classes.  Your rate of $30 for six weeks is almost ridiculously low.  I think you can and should charge more.  If I saw someone advertising at that rate I'd pass it by -- my mindset being that it was someone who didn't know what they were doing.

 This is exactly where the idea sprang up. I didn't want dogs being returned because of behavior and training issues that could easily be solved. But the idea only finally came true when I realized there NEEDS to be trainign classes teaching positive methods in the area, ans so far there just isn't.

 Unfortunately in this area people just would NOT pay that much for a training class. And in order to compete with the two other correction based trainers in the area, I have to keep my prices low. The other trainers charge 50-60 for 8 weeks, and 45 for 4 weeks. So if I am the cheapest, the best, and the most advertised class in the area, I'm hoping to make a change and truly educate people on more proper methods.

 

Heck! I'd travel to go to your class if I wasn't in Canada. The classes I'm looking in to are 100$ for 6 weeks... 

I've changed the beginner and intermediate obedience classes to 8 week courses.

This is the lesson plan I've come up with so far for the beginners obedience class. Is it asking too much? What needs to be changed? What could be better? 

Beginner Obedience Training Lesson Plans – 8 weeks

Week 1:
Orientation! Owners only. Do not bring dogs. Handouts, demonstrations, and training collars to be discussed.

Week 2:
Sit, Down, Stand
Owners will be instructed on how to teach sit, down and stand to their dogs.

Week 3:
Review sit, down, stand. Introduce “sit for petting” and come.
Dogs should be sitting, downing, and standing easily on command or by lure. Time for more practice will be given in class before moving on. With the basics down, dogs can begin to work on understanding how to greet humans properly. “Come” will be introduced.

Week 4:
Review sit, down, stand, “sit for petting” and come. Introduce “Stay”.
All behaviors will begin to be placed on variable reinforcement schedule. Dogs should be obeying commands without the lure. The time dogs are required to “stay” will increase. “Come” will be strengthened.

Week 5:
Review sit, down, stand, stay, come. Introduce loose leash walking..
 Loose leash walking will be taught introduced. Different methods and tools may be used to accomplish loose leash walking.

Week 6:
Review sit, down, stand, stay, come. Work more on loose leash walking.

Week 7:
Review all behaviors taught.

Week 8:
Graduation! Dogs will be tested on what they have learned. Those dogs that have completed the class with a good understanding of basic obedience will be considered graduated and may now take a more advanced course if they’d like! Dogs that do not show good understanding of basic obedience are encouraged to take the class over again for more training and practice!

Tessa, If it helps, I'll give you my basic format (please note that I deviate from it quite a bit, depending on the class skill level and the dogs' attention spans).   Also, most of my students keep going to a "continuing ed" class, so my basic is only six weeks in length.  We use lure/reward, or clicker training, as you know.

Week 1: Orientation, no dogs.  Common canine behavior, prevention & management. The nature of reinforcement & extinguishment.  Equipment.  Lesson on "Attention" & name recognition training, "trade" and "sit".  Explanation of lure/reward, marker training (clicker), traditional obedience training.  Importance of permanent identification (microchip, tattoo). New vaccine protocols, canine nutrition resources, health topics (rabies, living with coyotes & deer ticks, spay/neuter, submissive urination/UTI, etc.  Q&A

Week 2:  Canine play behavior - what's normal and what's not, Settle, how to teach come when called, handling for grooming/vet, loose leash walking (with no leashes), food bowl safety (resource guarding prevention protocol), sit, appropriate reinforcement, "English as a second language for dogs" (this is where I go up to a student who looks like a good sport, and say "submarine" - he doesn't know what I want, so I shout a bit louder "SUBMARINE".  Owner is slightly nervous or embarrassed, smiling that thin-lipped smile and averting eyes LOL - so I quickly explain that's what your dog is trying to do - figure out what the human wants, and getting a bit nervous at not being able to.  Gives owners a nice perspective on yelling unknown commands at the dog...now they've been put (nicely, do this with a smile) in the dog's place and realize he doesn't always know what they want;-)) 

Week 3: Stand, down, more leash walking (with leashes) and "come" exercises (call away from another pup), sit/stay, (asking permission for the food bowl to hit the floor - which reinforces sit/stay another way, "leave it" from the handlers hand, safe fencing options for dogs, handling (pass the puppy)

Week 4: Down with voice only, leave it (object on the floor this time), sit/stay while the human starts to move, come when called & go play, how to reinforce "come" nicely, how to have a safe walk/play dates, proofing behaviors and "taking it on the road" (so the dog doesn't only behave in the living room), intermittent reinforcement

Week 5: Sit/stay with more distance, more "come" (restrained recalls, hide & seek, etc.), down stay, polite greeting in public, interaction with kids, target training, discussion of multiple dog households & leash reactivity - marrow bone training/object exchange

Week 6: Tricks - paw, high five; wave/belly up or roll over; intermittent reinforcement, dog sports/activities discussion, beginner agility obstacle or "go to place".  Graduation.

Each week we do a quick review of previous week's skills.  This is really just an outline, I do a lot of thinking on my feet based on the class progress and some classes are half way in to the next level by the time they graduate.  Others are slower and still others are mixed.  You can't leave a smart handler and dog just standing around, and you can't make a slower team feel pressured or inadequate.  Takes some balancing and some "running commentary".

Sorry if I've repeated anything already said, these were just the first things that jumped to my mind.

tessa_s212

Week 1:
Orientation! Owners only. Do not bring dogs. Handouts, demonstrations, and training collars to be discussed.

I think you need to include some basic dog behaviour here too.  Ask, what does it mean if a dog wags his tail and see how many respond, "he's happy".   

I think you need to include what are realistic expectations for the dogs as well - taht dogs don't generalise well for example, and that for a lot of things, the key to success is being PROACTIVE.  For instance (just the first thing that popped into my mind) a lot of owners expect pups and young dogs to "tell" them they need to go to  the toilet, which is unrealistic for a lot of dogs; you need to be proactive and get them out at the right time.  Another example is some owners have their dogs lunging and pulling to get to another dog while saying "sit!  sit! no!" etc, instead of taking preventative measures to stop the dog getting to taht level of arousal and actually ENABLE them to listen to their cues.

I can't see a "drop it" cue on your plan, which is (in my opinion) more improtant than "Stand".

I also think you should include some tricks, maybe in the demos in the first week, just to catch their interest and inspire them to do their homework. 

Revised version:

Week 1:

Orientation! Owners only. Do not bring dogs. Handouts, demonstrations, and training collars to be discussed. Lesson on "Attention" & name training, "trade".  Explanation of lure/reward and marker training (clicker). Questions will be answered.

Week 2:

Sit, Down, Stand,  Trade and Come games

Owners will be instructed on how to teach sit, down and stand to their dogs. Attention/name exercises. “Trade games” will be played. “Come” games will be played.

Week 3:

Review sit, down, stand, come. Introduce “sit for petting”, stay and loose leash walking.

Dogs should be sitting, downing, and standing easily on command or by lure. Time for more practice will be given in class before moving on. With the basics down, dogs can begin to work on understanding how to greet humans properly. “Come” will be strengthened. Different methods and tools may be used to accomplish loose leash walking.

Week 4:

Review sit, down, stand, “sit for petting” and come. Strengthen “stay” and loose leash walking.

All behaviors will begin to be placed on variable reinforcement schedule. Dogs should be obeying commands without the lure.

Week 5:

Review sit, down, stand, stay, come, “sit for petting”, and loose leash walking. Introduce "Give".

Dogs will learn that giving up their things to humans bring good things, preventing resource guarding and aggression.

Week 6:

Review all behaviors taught.

Dogs should be getting high understanding of most all commands and behaviors. Dogs should not be dependent on treats to perform. Dogs ahead of schedule may teach tricks.

Week 7:

Review all behaviors taught.

Week 8:

Graduation! Dogs will be tested on what they have learned. Those dogs that have completed the class with a good understanding of basic obedience will be considered graduated and may now take a more advanced course if they’d like! Dogs that do not show good understanding of basic obedience are encouraged to take the class over again for more training and practice!

 I had my first class!!! I was very nervous at first, and still a bit unsure throughout teh class, but once teaching or offering advice, I had no problem at all explaining and helping.

I've got a 21 week old golden/poodle, a 14 month old golden, and a 2 year old cocker/poodle.

We first went over basic training tip handouts, socialization handouts, and introduce clicker training - encouraging them to buy a clicker if they would like. (I'd sell them, but my order of 16 has not come in yet. ) Outside we worked on name recognition - just to make sure every dog fully understood their name and that at the sound of it, they should pay attention. Then we worked on sit and down. The golden seemed to already know sit, or at least to put its butt down when it saw a treat! The goldendoodle did very well and caught on fast. Down was a bit harder for the pup and the cockapoo. In fact, the owner resorted to trying to push him down(gently), so I offered the "tunnel method", or the method in which you use your leg to form an object they must go under to recieve the treat, and in doing so usually have to put their chest to the ground. We did accomplish that! However, I'm just not sure how long it will take to have him willingly doing that without the tunnel/leg. I also introduced the "trade game", and explained how to avoid resource guarding and how to teach their kids to never just go up and grab the food bowl, etc. Also demonstrated the steps to teach "give". And answered questions on house training and "come".

I have so much to improve upon. I sometimes fumble on words - gah! Need to remember to always explain things in a way they'll understand.. no biiiig dog training words. And when demonstrating, talk more about precisely what they need to do. Talk and show. And the cockapoo's owner will need more praise and attention when she does do things right, because I did notice a bit of discouragement in that her dog wasn't as easily manipulated into a down as the others(though she was ecstatic that her dog sits!). And lastly, could use a bit better of structure and plans. I think my lesson plans based on what I should teach each week are alright, but the structure within each class.. I need help! I just had them all doing their own thing. Demonstrated, and asked them all to just practice it. Lure into a sit, treat, praise and then move and get the dog standing again and repeat the process until it was luring very easily into a sit. Same with down. Next week I definitely want to get them sitting and downing without lure, simply hand signal and then treat. Is that too sudden or fast? Or should I only expect that by later weeks?

Next week I'd like to work on attention and holding attention on the handler(maybe a "watch me" command too) and standing still for examination (vets, groomers, etc) and staying in whatever position(sit,down, stand). I'd like to introduce "leave it" as well. "Sit for petting" because they will know sit, though I don't believe that will take much time because none seemed to jump ever. And lastly "come games". Walking forward and backing up and calling. Me holding, owner calling.
And I will ask if anyone has any barking problems when people knock at the door - if so, we'd eventually in later weeks work on place mat training and to stay on it. And if we have time, introduce loose leash walking.

Basically, what I need guidance with is the structure within each class. I do have an idea of what I want to teach, but just don't know exactly how to go about doing that. Should only one person be doing it at a time, or by demonstrating and asking the all to spread out and keep practicing, is that okay?